Ecologia da fauna flebotomínica (Diptera: Psychodidae) em uma área rural endêmica para leishmaniose tegumentar americana no estado de Pernambuco

Abstract

Sand flies belonging to the genus Lutzomyia (Diptera: Psychodidae) are spread over several zoogeographic regions of the world, being represented by several species found in greater abundance in tropical and subtropical regions. These flies have great relevance to public health, because they are involved in the transmission of the causative agents of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL), which are among the most important tropical diseases in Brazil and in many countries worldwide. This study aimed to study the ecology of sandflies in an endemic rural area for American cutaneous leishmaniasis in the state of Pernambuco Sandfly collections were conducted from August 2013 to August 2014, with CDC light traps, type on a monthly basis for three consecutive nights, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 am totaling seven traps. Each trap was placed at 1.5m, being installed in three different environments: indoors, outside the home and kills. The capture sites were selected near dens of wild animals, large tree trunks, in shaded and humid places. The specimens captured were examined, separated according to sex and kept in 70% ethanol. Collected sand flies were identified based on morphology and females of Lutzomyia whitmani (n = 169), Lutzomyia amazonensis (n = 134) and Lutzomyia complexa (n = 21) were selected and evaluated by PCR for the presence of Leishmania (Viannia) spp. In total, 5,167 sand flies belonging to 19 species were identified, being that Lutzomyia choti (43.2%) was the most frequent species, followed by Lu. amazonensis (16.6%), Lu. whitmani (15.8%), Lutzomyia sordellii (10.7%) and Lutzomyia quinquefer (5.8%), which together represented over 90% of the collected sand flies. Females assessed by PCR were negative for Leishmania (Viannia) spp. The study showed that there is an important variety of species in the above area, although some of these species are associated with human cases reported of ACL. The meeting of the species Lu. whitmani proven vector of cutaneous leishmaniasis in several Brazilian regions, may suggest their participation in the ACL in Ipojuca.